BEAUTY IN SIMPLICITY

Three things have always been a part of our dreams and goals as a couple: lots of kids, lots of animals, and a beautiful place to house them all. While the details of this dream have changed many many times, those three things have always remained.

We used to dream of a magnificent Pinterest-worthy white farmhouse that we designed ourselves, hundreds of acres of luscious green pastures full of horses and cattle, and at least a half dozen precious little children running around in our backyard in their matching outfits.

I don't like to say we traded that dream for what we have now, because that implies what we have now is somehow lesser than. But somewhere along the way God revealed to us a different version of this dream He placed in our hearts -- a simpler version.

After a few years of saving, living below our means, and working hard, we purchased a 1970s farmhouse on 5 acres of land. This was in June of 2021.

Our home isn't Pinterest-worthy. There's too much brown wall paneling to get many likes on Instagram. But it's big enough to fit our family as we are today, it meets our every need, and we even have room to grow our family by a few more little noggins, if God should have it..... Y'all didn't really think we were done having kids, did you??

Our 5 acres isn't much, but we sit up on a hill, we can see for miles, and have the most gorgeous view of the Oklahoma sunsets. And we have also learned we can accomplish everything we've ever wanted on much much less land than we originally thought.

This year, we are diving in head first into the homesteading life -- learning to make bread, hatching chicks, planting a massive garden, canning everything imaginable, and, as of yesterday, bought our very first cow, Mirabel.

(Yes, Mirabel, after the movie Encanto. We have 5 kids under 7 years old. What did you expect??)

Mirabel is a red angus cow, who is due to calve soon!! She is absolutely beautiful and we are so excited to have her.

Here is a video of Mirabel being set out onto her new pasture on The Cloyd Family Homestead this week.

When it comes to homesteading, we really only have one goal -- to be able to sustain our family and have fun doing it.

Right now, we have about 25 hens, and we're hatching (hopefully) 36 more in a couple of weeks. We're starting seeds for our garden that should produce enough to feed our family for a year, and Mirabel's calf will be the start of providing beef for our family for many years to come. Oh, and can't forget Pablo and Shiela -- our pet goats who have absolutely no function, other than to make us happy with their goofy goat antics.

I make myself rich by making my wants few. - Henry David Thoreau

We consider ourselves very rich in this season. We have a home that meets our every need. We have land to provide our family with sustenance. We have 5 beautiful, healthy children who have everything they need and more. It may not be aesthetically pleasing enough for Instagram, but it's more than enough for us.

We have worked hard, and we are very blessed.

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